Weapons

City Council: Brightly-Colored BB Guns Would Reduce LAPD Shootings

The police union representing LAPD officers has condemned a proposed city ordinance requiring BB guns to be painted a bright color, calling it "ill-advised and dangerous."

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday directed its city attorney to draft legislation proposed by a former LAPD sergeant turned City Council member designed to help protect officers from office-involved shootings involving toy guns.

Dennis Zine, a former LAPD motor sergeant, said the ordinance would require all BB devices, Airsoft pistols, and other imitation firearms to have the entire exterior surface painted "in a distinguishable color that will enable law enforcement to readily distinguish these imitation firearms from other firearms," reports CBS Los Angeles.

The City Council voted 14-1 Wednesday to draft the legislation. Former LAPD Chief Bernard Parks voted against it.

Tyler Izen, president of the Los Angeles Police Protective League, said the legislation would have the opposite effect because criminals would attempt to mask real guns by painting them bright colors.

"This is a horrible idea that may cause officers to hesitate when confronted with a colored rifle when we already know that fully operable handguns and rifles have been painted bright colors," Izen said in a statement. "The law is designed to create doubt in an officer’s mind. If they hesitate they could be killed."

Izen also added that the law would give parents a false sense of security when giving their children colorful guns.

Through the Fallen Officer Program, Kahr Arms will donate a Thin Blue Line model PM9 customized with the fallen officer's name on the side of the slide, and his or her badge number and "end of watch" date engraved on the top of the slide.

The Spokane Police Department has 56 guns pending auction and has sold 311 rifles in the last seven years. The City has already barred police from selling handguns and the police have destroyed 1,245 handguns or illegal firearms since 2011.

FN America LLC has announced the release of the highly anticipated FN SCAR 20S precision rifle, based on the FN MK20 SSR or Sniper Support Rifle currently fielded within USSOCOM. The 7.62x51mm-chambered rifle has been purpose-built to achieve superior long-range accuracy.

MT2 Firing Range Services has announced final approval of status to do business on the General Services Administration, GSA Advantage. Now, the company says, federal, state, and local governments can get the lead out of their ranges more efficiently.